Greenpeace Responds to Trump’s Appointment of Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency

In response to news that President-Elect Donald Trump has appointed Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency, Greenpeace spokesperson Travis Nichols said:

“By appointing Scott Pruitt as head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Trump is putting America at risk. Pruitt is a pure product of the oil and gas industry, installed in successive government posts to sell out his constituents at every turn. He will push this country far behind the rest of the world in the race for 21st century clean energy. With Scott Pruitt as head of the EPA, the people and the environment will be in the hands of a man who cares about neither.

“As Oklahoma attorney general, Pruitt was an enthusiastic shill for the fracking industry, and a reckless obstruction to the Clean Power Plan. By putting fossil fuel toadies and climate deniers like Pruitt in positions of power, Trump is taking America further away from climate solutions and the global clean energy revolution and toward planetary disaster.

“While Trump may send signals to the media he has an ‘open mind’ about climate change, this appointment and the rest of his proposed cabinet confirm he doesn’t understand the stakes of the game he’s playing. More people care about climate change than voted for Trump. He is on the wrong side of this issue. If climate change denial is going to be the default position of the Trump White House, then relentless resistance will be the default position of the American people.”